Monday

WORCESTER - Audience expectations may not be quite what you would expect when "Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends: New Worlds" takes the stage, at least according to Murray.

"They don't see it coming. They're expecting something really boring and brutal, and some people give up hope. We play the boring stuff first and we have about 10 people leave and they say, 'This is brutal,' " Murray said.

Still, "by the time it's over they're so glad they came," he added.

"Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends: New Worlds" is coming to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts for a performance at 7:30 p.m. April 22.

The program blends classical music, American standards (including a trio of songs from "West Side Story) and readings from classic American authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

Murray, 67, an actor and comedian who has shown quite a range over the years ("Stripes," "Groundhog Day," "Lost in Translation"), and Vogler, 54, a world-renowned classical cellist who grew up in the former East Germany before moving to the United States, became friends during a plane flight from Berlin to New York City. Joining them on stage for "New Worlds" are violinist Mira Wang (Vogler's wife) and pianist Vanessa Perez.

The classical pieces will include works by Bach, Ravel and Piazzolla.

"The show really has so many facets and colors," said Vogler. "It's exciting and inspiring to play this for so many people."

"I was a classical music person the same way I was a cloud person," Murray said. "I didn't understand clouds, but I'm able to have these ridiculously talented people play these pieces. Live classical music is a different experience. To be present is really a blessing."

"New Worlds" was released as a CD last year, and Murray, Vogler, Wang and Perez have been taking the program on the road. Murray and Vogler were being interviewed by phone while on I-90 en route to Rochester, New York, for a performance April 11. They both sounded in a good mood. "It's a beautiful drive," Murray said. Speaking of clouds, "we're looking at clouds. Beautiful clouds. We just came through one."

When they first met preflight from Berlin, Murray recalled that he "saw this guy carrying an odd-shaped box." He asked him how it would fit in the overhead. "He (Vogler) said, 'It has its own seat, it has a first-class seat, and it has a window seat.' "

The seat was for Vogler's cello made by Stradivari in 1707. Vogler has performed as a soloist with many of the world's finest symphony orchestras.

Vogler "was nice enough to speak to me in the flight," Murray said. "He was not familiar with my work, he just knew that the stewardess kept talking to me. He said 'What's the deal?' " The plane had "Stripes" available so Murray had it played for Vogler. "He fell asleep several times during the film and the flight," Murray said.

"It's a very good film" said Vogler. "I did see many of Bill's films, but I didn't know 'Stripes.' "

Instant friends, the relationship took a new turn a couple of years later when Vogler heard Murray reciting poetry. He also knew that Murray could sing.

"He sings, he does poetry like nobody else, (I thought) 'Let's do a show.'"

Murray said, "Jan is from East Berlin. He's German. These people like to work. I'm from Chicago. I like to watch games and relax. I became sophisticated when I changed from beer to wine ... I'm really on the tour against my will."

And so, according to Murray, it was Vogler who put the "New Worlds" program together.

"That's Jan's job. I assigned all the work and he came through and he's gonna keep his job ... He grew up reading American literature in Berlin. I said, 'These (selections) are all great.' He got a raise and a bonus for doing that. He was the first person I hired and he's doing fantastic. Everyone has chipped in a little bit, but he did all the work."

"That's not quite true," Vogler said.

Among the literary pieces Murray reads are Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" and "Song of Myself," Hemingway's "With Pascin at the Dome" from "A Moveable Feast," and James Thurber's "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox" from "Writings and Drawings."

"With the popular music Bill has quite a range of songs that is amazing," Vogler said. "I knew that Bill can sing so well. I wanted to share his versatility."

Murray has demonstrated that from "Saturday Night Live" times with his lounge singer act through to singing "Bare Necessities" in the recent "Jungle Book" live-action/CGI movie.

For "New Worlds," Murray's singing numbers include George Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" from "Porgy and Bess," while the "West Side Story" songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim are "Somewhere," "I Feel Pretty" and "America."

"I Feel Pretty" is sung by Maria in the musical.

"That's something that Jan hums to himself all the time," Murray said of the song. "I said, 'Rather than make a mistake (Vogler humming it inadvertently on stage), let's put it in the show.' "

Vogler said, "The Bernstein was really one of the cornerpieces. The texts are so brilliant. If you see Bill doing 'I Feel Pretty' I'm sure you will never get it out of your head."

As "New Worlds" has been touring live, reviewers have noted exuberant encores by the quartet on stage and unexpected happenings with Murray flinging long-stemmed roses to the audience.

"We're creating like a bunch of encores, it's almost like the encores are better than our show," Murray said.

Maybe they could form the basis a new show. But for now, "we're going to a lot of places," Murray said of the tour. "We'll try to cover the English-speaking world and see what we want to see."

Contact Richard Duckett at richard.duckett@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @TGRDuckett